Thanks to Angie for leaving her thoughts on my posts. It is appreciated.
I really am missing the Bookies. I have to get caught up with what you are reading so I can at least put in my thoughts and hear the others. It was fun when Angie and I could have a discussion on the books while we were working. I miss that. My goal for March is to read which ever book, the Bookies have nominated, finish it, and put in a few thoughts to Sheila.
I have been trying very hard to stay current with my posts but find myself 2 books behind. Yeah I know, it is sad, but they were late to the library too.
My excuse is that my son Michael came to visit and we all went to celebrate my brother in law Craigs 50th birthday in CA. It was fun but I did get to read my book all the way there and back.
I really nead to invest in one of the Kindles or the like. It would sure make it easy to read in the dark while my husband drives. I find the book lights to not be very user friendly.
That is it for tonight, onward to bed, and up early to work.  Good night to all.

Lie After Lie

Synopsis


A seemingly perfect world held an even more unlikely killer...



Julie Keown had a great job, financial security, and a perfect husband who was attending Harvard Business School. But after Julie suddenly died, and doctors discovered she's been poisoned with the main ingredient in antifreeze, her parents began to suspect that her husband, James, was not so perfect. This blow-by-blow account shows how investigators and state police unraveled James Keown's chilling web of deceit.



My Thoughts
Amazing. I always love true crime stories. I find them to be very interesting. It seems crazy that people do the things they do but we all know these people are out there. We teach our kids daily about the strangers and the danger.
But... your husband? Son-in-Law? Brother? Son? The list goes on....... Would you ever think some one in your close family would kill their wife?  To treat them well to their face and in front of others while behind their backs-the poisoning begins.
I believe Julie knew more than what people thought she did about parts of her husbands behaviour. Julie may not have wanted to believe it, but I think she knew they had issues with money to start with.
I could be wrong and maybe she was innocently in the dark. Its hard for me to believe that she knew nothing. How can anyone be so blind? It wasn't only Julie that was in the dark though, what about all the others that he fooled with his lies?
I have already started my next book of true crime. It already blows my mind after a couple chapters, more on that when I finish....

House of Windows

Synopsis


When a young writer finds himself cornered by a beautiful widow in the waning hours of a late-night cocktail party, he seeks at first to escape, to return to his wife and infant son. But the tale she weaves, of her missing husband, a renowned English professor, and her lost stepson, a soldier killed on a battlefield on the other side of the world, and of phantasmal visions, a family curse, and a house - the Belvedere House, a striking mansion whose features suggest a face hidden just out of view - draws him in, capturing him. What follows is a deeply psychological ghost story of memory and malediction, loss and remorse.

This unnerving tour de force, exploring the literary haunted house, from Charles Dickens, Edgar Allan Poe, and H. P. Lovecraft to today, incorporates family trauma, abstract art, literary criticism, the occult Dickens, and the war in Afghanistan. From John Langan (Mr. Gaunt and Other Uneasy Encounters) comes House of Windows, a chilling novel in the tradition of Peter Straub, Joe Hill, and Laird Barron.



My Thoughts
 
The first thing I noticed about this book, was the long paragraphs. I am not sure what it was about that, but it irritated me right away. Needless to say that made it a very difficult read.  The subject matter was way out there. Not anything I would want to read again. It was mainly about a woman reciting her life and her husbands misfortunes in a very boring way.
 
I usually enjoy paranormal and such but I found this to be totally unbelievable and just plain stupid.
The worst part is that I have to pay a late fee at the library because this book took so long to read.
I would not suggest anyone take the time to read this but if you do let me know your feelings.

Everywhere That Mary Went by Lisa Scottoline

Who can you trust when everyone you know is a lawyer?




Mary DiNunzio has been slaving away for the past eight years trying to make partner in her cutthroat Philadelphia law firm. She's too busy to worry about the crank phone calls she's been getting -- until they fall into a sinister pattern. The phone rings as soon as she gets to work then as soon as she gets home. Mary can't shake the sensation that someone is watching her, following her every move. The shadowboxing turns deadly when her worst fears are realized and she has to fight for something a lot more important than partnership -- her life.
 
My Thoughts
 
I really have to stop listening to or reading the same author back to back.
This was also an audio and the same narrator as the last one. As soon as I heard the voice, I was not wanting to listen to it. As I have a long drive I decided I didn't have much choice since it was all I had with me. Not only that, being that it was on my mp3 I felt I had to give it a try.
A book has to be really bad for me to not finish it.
 
Again, it seemed like a short book. It was an ok book for me. I will have to read one of her books to see if that makes a difference in my opinion of Lisa's writings in case I am just that unimpressed with the narrator. I was looking at other books by her and they seem to have the same narrator.
 
As far as the story, Mary seems like a nice person although not very aware of things around her. Or maybe I should say she doesn't seem to be alert to other peoples feelings or behaviours. She did have a close friend who watched over her which was refreshing. Good friends are very hard to find. I was surprised at the ending but it was still just ok for me.
I will wait awhile before listening to another of Lisa's books.

Final Appeal by Lisa Scottoline

To Philadelphia lawyer Grace Rossi, who's starting over after a divorce, a part-time job with a federal appeals court sounds perfect. But Grace doesn't count on being assigned to an explosive death penalty appeal. Nor does she expect ardor in the court in the form of an affair with her boss, Chief Judge Armen Gregorian. Then the truly unimaginable happens and Grace finds herself investigating a murder.




As Grace searches for the truth, she unearths a six-figure bank account kept by the judge with an alias; breaks into another judge's chambers; and follows a trail of bribery and judicial corruption that's stumped even the FBI. In no time at all, Grace under fire takes on a whole new meaning.



Performed by Kate Burton
 
My Thoughts
 
I listened to this book while I was driving to and from work.
This was a very short book and I found it to be ok. It didn't impress me much. I am not real big on politics because I find most people in politics to be untruthful. I do think that alot of what happened does happen in their world and we just don't hear all the details of it events.
For Amen's wife to pay him to stay with her for a certain time period and to keep his son a secret, what a shame. All the money in the world wouldn't replace the time he could have spent with his son if he wasn't having to hide him.
All in all the book was ok although I was not impressed with the narrator either so that may have a little to do with my opinion. I found her to be boring and not showing much for feelings.

Picture Perfect

Cassie Barrett, a world-renowned anthropologist, wakes up in a graveyard and doesn't know who she is. Taken in for a few days by William Flying Horse, a Native American police officer, she waits for her life to re-appear. When Hollywood heartthrob Alex Rivers shows up to claim her as his wife, she is stunned but still doesn't remember anything.


After she returns to her fairytale existence as Alex Rivers' wife, fragments of memory come back but she senses there is a side to her husband that she can't remember. When she finds a positive pregnancy test hidden in her bathroom, dark memories return, allowing her to piece together her past. Frightened, she runs to the only person she trusts to keep her hidden: Will.

Jodi Picoult's story is a tapestry rich in detail and emotion, a beautifully written novel that will deeply reward, and perhaps inspire, its listeners.
 
My Feelings
 
Cassie seemed like such a sweet person along with being very smart. At least you would think that she would be very smart as her career would lead you to believe. But when it comes to love, Cassie is too trusting and too willing to care for others. By doing this she leaves herself to be hurt and tells herself that she caused it.
 
Sure sounds like the normal for any abused person, always thinking they caused it. Most of the time it wouldn't matter even if you did exactly what they wanted you to do, they would still have to bring out their aggresions on someone.
 
For her husband to be a movie star just makes it more difficult for her to get help. That also would seem close to real, many people would try to protect the star and cover things up for them.
Sometimes it takes a stranger to wake us up and make us see things for what they truly are.
 
I did enjoy the book and will read more of her books.

Family Skeleton

Synopsis




From childhood, Andre Carmichael suspected he had a twin, but his sister Sabrina consistently denied it. Then when Andre was 20, Sabrina told him she watched their abusive mother and older brother beat to death Andre’s three-year-old twin, Latanisha, and hide her body in a bedroom closet, where it remained for two decades. Family Skeleton meticulously profiles the players in this horrific drama, while telling the story of the secret's revelation, the grim family dynamics that drove both the savage killing and the cover-up, and Andre and Sabrina’s heroic attempts at healing.





My Thoughts
Unbelievable!
How shocking that people can treat their children this way. Even as the children turn into adults, the mind games and controlling continue.
My childhood was definately not perfect by any means, but nothing close to this either. Laws have changed to help children in these abusive homes but there are still alot of children that are missed.
It is very sad.
Sabrina and Andre were very strong to pull through this and not continue the abuse with their children. Kudos to both of them for the strength that they have.
I enjoy reading true stories even though they stay in my mind for days or sometimes weeks.

The Prodigal Wife

In Marcia Willett’s latest novel, Jolyon, who had been abandoned by his mother, Maria, is living at the Keep with his father and his stepmother Fliss. Now that Jolyon is a successful television presenter of gardening programs, the recently widowed Maria, lonely and impressed by her son’s fame, reappears and hopes to step back into his life. But Jolyon finds it difficult to trust his mother and forgive the hurt she had inflicted on him.




My Thoughts
I liked this novel. It has a lot of family drama but all families do have their share.
Some of the relationships within the family are irritating but I do suppose they could happen.
I think living in a house like the Keep would be fun. Not with the drama they had but with all the family coming to stay. The dinners and holidays would be the best.

Room

Synopsis


To five-year-old Jack, Room is the entire world. It is where he was born and grew up; it's where he lives with his Ma as they learn and read and eat and sleep and play.

My Thoughts
WOW
I read this on a trip to California for Thanksgiving. At first I didn't think I would like it but as I got into it, I couldn't put it down. I used my cell phone for light to read on the way home. I had to know the ending.
Things like this do happen, not exactly like this but close enough.
It is a heart breaking story but a must read by all means.

A Secret Kept

Synopsis




This stunning novel plumbs the depths of complex family relationships and the power of a past secret to change everything in the present

My Thoughts
I enjoy reading her books. She makes you feel like you can really believe that its real.
Tatiana really brings her characters to life so you feel like you truly know what they are feeling.
I would mark this as a really good book.

Killer Takes All

Synopsis




When a friend is found brutally murdered in her new Orleans apartment, former homicide detective Stacy Killian has reason to believe her death is related to the cultish fantasy role-playing game White Rabbit. The game is dark, violent--and addictive



As a former member of the Dallas police force, Stacy was exposed to more than her share of the horrors of crime. Moving to New Orleans was her attempt to pursue a quieter life. But her friend's murder plunges her back into the role that she fled--especially after she meets Spencer Malone, the homicide detective assigned to the murder case. Stacy doubts the overconfident rookie is up to the task and vows to track down the killer herself.



Her investigation draws her into the privileged circle of White Rabbit's brilliant creator, Leo Noble., a man with many dark secrets in his past...a man whose life has the same frightening surreal quality of the game he invented.



As the bodies mount and the game is taken to the next level, Stacy and Spencer are forced to work together. Soon they are trapped in the terrifying world of a game gone made where Leo Noble and all the people around him are suspect, cryptic notes foretell the next victim and no one--no one--is safe.



Because White Rabbit is more than a game. It's more real than life and death. And anyone can die before the final moment when the game is over...and killer takes all.

My Thoughts
I found this story to be very interesting.
As always when you read about people who find out the person they think they can trust or help is the one causing all the problems, it is scary to say the least. Thank God it is fiction.
I haven't heard alot about these kinds of games so it was all new to me. I felt it was written well and will read more of her books.

Author Jill Churchill

Over the last few months, I have read all of the Jane Jeffrey Mysteries by Jill Churchill.
I found them to be very light and fun. There were a few areas that made me laugh out loud.
All of them are about Jane (a mother of 3-widowed) who continues to get involved with people who have been involved in murder.
Jane and her best friend seem to find the final clues to solve the murder as Jane helps her boyfriend who is a detective.
These stories are not in depth but light and fun to read.